Who We Are, Where We Live is a free community writing program giving voice to people who live and work in the Buckeye/Shaker community that concluded in July 2017. Participants had an opportunity to write their stories, learn about their neighborhood, and share with their neighbors. Selected writings were published in an online anthology and presented at a final reading and celebration.

Program Highlights

Along with writing workshops at Rice Library and East End Neighborhood House, Stone Stories pop-up event at Edwin’s, audio interviews at East End Neighborhood House, and development of the Who We Are, Where We Live: Buckeye-Shaker anthology, there was much else going on throughout spring including:

o East End Neighborhood House CEO Zulma Zabala explained the concept of Ubuntu and its importance in creating and sustaining a rich and healthy community.

o Buckeye poet Damien Ware engaged attendees with original poetry.

At Rice Library’s first community writing workshop, Michael Fleenor, Director of Preservation Services at Cleveland Restoration Society, engaged participants with stories of some of the buildings that form the base for the community and talked about how they have been transformed over the years. Participants then wrote from their own sense of self and place.

Program Director Cindy Washabaugh visited historic St. Elizabeth’s of Hungary Catholic Church on Buckeye Road, which has been a landmark since construction was completed in 1922. Nearly 100 years later, the church still offers two masses each weekend spoken in Hungarian. She was given a tour by Nicholas Boros, who oversees the Church’s museum, provided a tour and church member Frank Dobos, as well as other church members, shared some of the church’s features and history with her. See photos below.

​Funding and Support

This program is made possible, in part, by the Ohio Humanities, a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.